So let me get this straight... everyone stay with me and correct me please if I'm wrong... did they just say in so many words... "Yeah... you're gonna be buying a bunch of really reused molds and stuff next year BUT if you all buy enough we'll give you some really new stuff the following year!"

So let me get this straight... everyone stay with me and correct me please if I'm wrong... did they just say in so many words... "Yeah... you're gonna be buying a bunch of really reused molds and stuff next year BUT if you all buy enough we'll give you some really new stuff the following year!"

Is that how it went down?

Yeah, pretty much.

Sort of makes it obvious that we still won't be getting the likes of a bigger Doomsday or Lead but there's plenty of opportunity for greatness out of the sub even with lots of re-used parts... Look at what we've seen for the rest of this year so far, lots of re-use but it all works (though RR would've worked better at standard size instead of Atom Smasher size...). Just a few examples of how few new pieces would be needed to get some striking and wanted characters out there...

I was listening to one of the Roast Gooble dinners at the Org where Toy Guru was on as a guest and he was talking about how the Mattycollector successes of 2010 (units moved, subscriptions sold, etc.) were what motivated Mattel to invest more heavily in Mattycollector for 2012 - they got more attention from the photo lab, legal, etc. in addition to Mattel wanting to expand the offerings on Mattycollector. All great news for me as a MOTU collector, but the delay between Mattel knowing the money was there and their ability to capitalize on it got me thinking about how long it would really take for CIE to turn into what I want.

When I asked, I was hopeful that some amount of additional investment could be put into the figures shown at SDCC and written off as advertisement/enticement of what's to come - that some higher tooling, but highly requested figure could be put in their as a ringer, but that's not the case. I still think we're going to see some good stuff though. I'm happy with all the 2012 offerings revealed so far (except the abysmal Rocket Red) and hopefully the last four will be enough to make me forget about him, let alone the handful of 2013 stuff we'll see.

There are plenty of figures I still want that would work with heavy re-use. Re-use never bothered me; for the sub, my only concern has been loss of focus in what is supposed to be a Collector's Line. So far, the sub has done a good job in their character selection, incorporating classic characters, team builders, supporting characters of popular ones (this is where I put Black Mask) and the modern ones that some fans what. If the formula stays the same in 2013, along with a Club figure comparable to Metron, I'm good!

I am lightly disappointed, but not surprised that there will be no Voltron subscription in 2013. But outside of the vehicles, I don't see what they could do with a sub. A modern Voltron makes more sense as a retail item, and I don't know how well that would do at retail, much less on Matty.com.

So, for 2012, we are looking at subs for DCUC and MOTUC only? I'd like to see more from Matty.com, even one-off type items (statues, staction figures like Death?) that don't necessarily go with other lines.